The Wet Tropics : Atherton Tablelands & Cairns Area Birdwatching

Group Size: 4
Tour Cost: $3,600.00 (AUD) (2025)
Single Supplement: $615.00 (AUD) (2025)

The Wet Tropics  including the Atherton Tablelands and Cairns area has 15 endemic birds which are found nowhere else in the world. It also has many distinct subspecies including Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Crimson Rosella, Southern Boobook, Masked Owl, Satin Bowerbird, White-throated Treecreeper, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Brown Gerygone, Yellow Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Grey Fantail, Pale Yellow Robin and Bassian Thrush. It addition it has some birds like Southern Cassowary which are found also in New Guinea and Papua but not anywhere else in Australia.

Most mammals are nocturnal but some of the most iconic species can be seen in the day. Grey Kangaroos and Mareeba Rock Wallaby being easy to see around Mareeba while Platypus and Lumholtz’s Tree-kangaroo are usually available higher up on the Tablelands. Spotlighting can be done at various locations in order to find some of the shyer nocturnal animals.

The lush rainforests of the Wet Tropics have 3 distinct altitudinal bands and many birds are only found in a particular height band. There is little north – south migration apart from some shorebirds  such as Great Knot, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Grey-tailed Tattler which are only resident in any numbers from October – April and birds like Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher that come down from New Guinea but some altitudinal migration occurs with White-headed Pigeons and Rufous Fantail amongst the birds moving to lower altitudes in the winter months.

The Cairns and  Atherton Tablelands area is a great place for photographers, birders and those interested in general natural history. Our tours take you around the rainforests of the Northern and Southern Tablelands, to the coastal area around Cairns  and from Daintree to the dry areas around Mareeba. For a really great birding and wildlife break join us and  let our experienced guides show you the best of the Wet Tropics?